


Stairs!

by Daniscats



Series: The Incredible Story of Captain Shepard and the Love that Saved the Galaxy! Drabbles and Misc [15]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-24 22:08:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20021800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daniscats/pseuds/Daniscats





	Stairs!

Shepard gazed at the reflection in her mirror and frowned. It wasn't going to heal quickly enough. She couldn't hide out in her room forever, especially since they were arriving in the Attican Beta Cluster shortly and they had work to do. She had hoped that the repeated applications of medigel would have removed all traces of her injury by now.

The swelling had disappeared but the scar and the bruising remained, not to mention...Shepard smiled at herself and then scowled. The empty spot where her tooth used to be was like a beacon that would attract every eye whenever spoke or smiled no matter what she did to hide it. How could Chakwas not think to stock implants? It was dereliction of duty as far as Shepard was concerned. Not that she had ever needed one before.

She was very proud of the fact that despite her rough childhood (which definitely did not include regular trips to the dentist) and the many fights and battles she had been in, she had all her own original teeth. Until yesterday. Shepard rolled her eyes. Unbelievable.

She was about to abandon her journey outside her cabin and work at her desk when smells from the mess hall right outside wafted in. Her stomach kicked up its rumbling. It was a not so subtle reminder that she had skipped dinner last night and had not eaten anything since before the 'incident'.

She supposed she could go full-on Dictator Captain of the Ship and demand that a serviceman bring her meal to her but it likely wouldn't solve the problem. She would likely have some sign of the 'incident' for a couple days and she was too impatient a person to hide out in the tiny space that long. Besides, she was the Captain of the ship! She didn't have to answer to anyone. It was no one's business!

With that defiance in mind, she walked out her door. And into a mess room full of not only crewmen but at a particularly raucous end of the table, most of her squad mates as well. The boom of Wrex's laughter echoed throughout the room as she slipped into the kitchen to fix herself a plate. While she was gratified to see everyone enjoying breakfast together as it meant that her efforts to engender squad cohesion were successful, she had hoped that the place would be empty on this particular morning.

Of course it was Liara, followed quickly by Kaidan, who noticed her first.

"Goddess, Shepard, you're hurt!"

"Commander! Are you okay? What happened?"

Both Liara and Kaidan jumped up from their seats to help Shepard to the table as she waved them off. She sat down next to Liara and across from Wrex and Garrus.

"It's nothing. I'm fine. Nothing to see here."

"That's quite the eye you've got there", Garrus said and then whistled. "Nice scar on your cheek too."

"I do not understand, Shepard", Liara broke in again, "how were you injured? We were on the Citadel yesterday and you did not appear to be injured during our last mission."

"Hah! Barroom brawl, I'll bet." Wrex opined. "Been in about a thousand of those myself. Good times!"

"I hope you gave as good as you got because it looks like you got pretty good." Garrus winked at her.

"I was not in a brawl and I'm fine." Shepard marched on quickly to try to change the subject. "So, what did you guys do while we were in port? Did you see all the decorations they had up for that salarian remembrance day? Interesting history there."

"Commander, I don't want to be a nag but you really should take at least one of us with you when you leave the ship." Kaidan wasn't about to let this go. "Saren has friends everywhere and it's obvious that you were attacked. By the looks of it, by more than a couple. You managed to come out of it okay this time..."

"I'm fine!" Shepard interrupted, feeling herself getting more irritated. "And I don't need a chaperone to walk around the damned Citadel of all places."

Shepard took a couple deep breaths before she continued.

"Look, I really am fine. And it was nothing. It was an isolated incident and it won't happen again."

"You can not know that, Shepard." Liara responded. "Kaidan is right. If not for yourself but for the sake of the mission, you really should have some backup when you leave the ship. I was wondering why I...I mean, we, did not see you when you returned last night." 

"Well, it's over now. It was no big deal and in another day or two, you won't even be able to tell that anything happened."

"So, how many were there?" Garrus asked, his curiosity piqued. "And how long did it take for C-Sec to get there? I mean, it should have been pretty quick unless you were in one of the seedier places in the wards and I can't see any reason why you would have been there. Unless...you didn't pick up another lead on Saren, did you? In that case, you really should have had at least one of us with you." 

"Like a big, scary krogan." Wrex added. "I'll bet they would have thought twice if I had been there with you. And I would have enjoyed myself! How many were there again? Six, did you say?"

Shepard sighed and dropped her head in frustration for a moment.

"Look, I obviously got through it just fine. No serious injuries so why don't we just drop it. We *should* be talking about what we might be facing on Feros."

Their end of the table got silent for a moment before Garrus piped up again. Goddamn cop, Shepard thought. He was like a dog with a bone when he detected any kind of falsehood or anything besides the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"So, what lead were you following? And I assume you would fill us in if you found anything? Anything at all?"

"I wasn't following a lead! And I thought you all trusted me? If I thought what happened was in any way, shape or form important, then I would tell you all about it!"

"Who were there?", Liara asked darkly. "Did C-Sec apprehend them?"

"Uh oh. Blue's pissed." Wrex continued. "But she has a point. If you got attacked and they got away, why are we just sitting here, on our way to another system?"

"Hmmmm", Garrus considered. "They both have a point, Shepard. If you were attacked, it might not have been random. If we could capture and question these people, we could find out more about Saren and what he's doing."

"I agree", Kaidan added. "It would waste some time going back to the Citadel but it might save some time in the long run if we got the right information."

"Not to mention, we can get the people who hurt Shepard", Liara said even more darkly.

"They're as good as dead now!" Wrex laughed. "I say let's do it!"

"Whoa, whoa!" Shepard could not believe how this had gotten out of hand. She put her head in her hands briefly. "Listen. It was nothing. Again, you have to trust your Commander. If I thought what happened would help us with the mission, I would tell you all."

Shepard looked at her squad mates and they all looked more and more determined. She recognized this as their blood-thirsty look. Or at least, their mission-focused look. She was just about to try to explain why they didn't need to go back to the Citadel on a search and destroy mission, when Doctor Chakwas approached the table. Panic.

"Hello everyone", Chakwas greeted the table before she focused on Shepard. "And how is my patient feeling after her fall? Your implant should be ready by the time we are back on the Citadel."

There was silence. 

"Shepard, what happened?!" Liara asked.

"This is so stupid!", Shepard said.

They all just looked at her expectantly.

Shepard sighed and then blurted out.

"I fell, okay? It happens. There was no attack. I just fell. It's no big deal!"

"You fell?" Garrus asked, his mandibles twitching. "Where?"

"Why is that important? And why are you all making such a big deal out of all this?"

"Not for nothing, Shepard, but have you seen your face?" Kaidan tried not to smile. "You kind of look like it was used as a piñata. And, are you missing a tooth?"

"This is not funny." Liara said. "Shepard was obviously hurt and people can die from falls! If there is somewhere on the Citadel where even you with your situational awareness and coordination can fall, then you need to tell the authorities. It is obviously dangerous." 

"It wasn't on the Citadel", Shepard responded quietly.

"You fell and hurt yourself that badly on the ship?" Wrex asked incredulously. "Your ship? How long have you been here?"

"I don't remember any asteroid strikes or anything else that effected the inertia dampeners." Kaidan said, confused.

"I just fell down the stairs, okay. There was no turbulence. I just fell. People, many people, many, many people, have fallen down stairs since there have been people and since there have been stairs. Why are we still even talking about this?"

Shepard winced internally as she remembered not being able to stop her forward motion and her head, or rather her face, smacking against the handrail on the wall of the stairs and then the almost comical way she bounced off it and face-planted again against the stairs themselves. If it were not for the thing in her hands protecting her torso, she might have broken some ribs as well. Of course, it also ensured that the point of contact between her body and the metal was her face so she wasn't so sure what a blessing it had been. She was so embarrassed that her first action was to use her omni-tool to call one of the cleaning robots to take care of the blood and only then did she make her way to Chakwas, after dropping off what she had been carrying to her room.

The squad mates were silent for a moment before they all burst out in laughter. Even Liara couldn't help but chuckle.

"You see this scar here?" Wrex asked while pointing to an old gash on his forearm. "Stairs!" Wrex roared with laughter.

"And you can't see it because of my armor but I have a long scar on my left leg." Garrus said.

"Stairs!" Garrus and Wrex both yelled at the same time.

"You knuckleheads are hilarious. I don't have time for this. I need to get back to work."

Shepard pushed her plate away and stood up from the table. Liara caught her arm.

"It is not really funny, Shepard. It is just that it is so ironic. You do not get hurt fighting a krogan battle-master but then get hurt on..."

"Stairs!", Garrus and Wrex both yelled and then fell into hysterical laughter once again. Shepard only rolled her eyes and moved towards the back of the elevator and the offending stairs.

"Wait!" Garrus yelled after her. "Let someone help you up those stairs. We don't want you taken out before we get to Feros." 

"Comedians! If any one of you gets up from that table, I will hurt you!" Shepard said before she disappeared around the corner and started bounding up the stairs. 

\-------------------------------

Shepard waited until late at night, when she knew most would likely be sleeping except for the skeletal crew who covered the CIC during Normandy's nocturnal cycle. She knew that they would not start rotating out for their 'lunch' for another hour so the coast should be clear. She peeked her head around the corner into the mess just to be sure. When she saw no bodies or movement, she walked out with the huge object in her hands and made her way towards the medical bay.

She knocked lightly on Liara's door in the back on the med bay, not wanting to wake Liara if she were already sleeping. As suspected, Liara was still awake and asked her in within moments. She shyly moved forward carrying her fluffy delivery. Liara looked surprised when she saw the object that Shepard was carrying.

"Hi. I, ah, got you something. I know it's stupid but I wanted to get you something and I didn't know what but I didn't want it to be something practical but something fun, you know? The last time we were on the Citadel together, you said you thought it was a fascinating animal when we saw it in that Earth store. And I know it's too big for a warship but I'm thinking you won't always be on a warship. I mean, I hope you will stay as long as possible on the Normandy but sooner or later and this mission will be done and I'm assuming you have an apartment somewhere seeing as you come from a rich family." Shepard paused for just a moment before turning and taking the large, stuffed horse with her. "I'm sorry. It's dumb. And you are too smart to like stupid things like a stuffed animal. It's a child's gift! I don't know what I was thinking! I should go!"

"Shepard, please, stop!"

Shepard turned around. She could feel her face getting hot and had to fight the urge to run away. What had she been thinking?? And why did she turn into a babbling idiot whenever she got nervous? And why did she feel nervous talking to Liara? She was not typically the type who had problems talking with anyone.

"I love it!" Liara said, her own face turning a deeper shade of blue. "No one has ever given me a stuffed animal before except my mother." Liara hesitated before continuing, her voice cracking a little. "It has been years since anyone has gifted me anything. Thank you, Shepard." 

"You're welcome." Shepard said, her smile beaming. "I'll let you get your sleep. Good night, Liara."

As Shepard turned to leave, Liara stopped her with a question.

"This thing is huge. This didn't have anything to do with your fall, did it?"

Shepard just smiled and shrugged.

"Oh, Shepard. I am so sorry that my gift caused you to get injured!" 

"I was just clumsy. I might have fallen even without it. Besides, if you like it, it's worth every bruise and scar." Shepard smiled once more before turning and leaving Liara and her horse behind. 


End file.
